Julie Chen Moonves chats with ET about the upcoming season of the reality show and all the Kardashian connections.
The new season of Celebrity Big Brother is already making headlines!
With less than 24 hours until season 3 kicks off, the houseguests have already settled in and host Julie Chen Moonves is sharing details about what viewers can expect. Shanna Moakler, Carson Kressley, Miesha Tate, Chris Kirkpatrick, Chris Kattan and more form part of the latest edition, and are already stirring up trouble. Lamar Odom is also a houseguest and already can't stop talking about his ex-wife, Khloe Kardashian, and how he hoped she was in the house with him.
"I am obsessed with them as a couple," Julie tells ET's Kevin Frazier. "I am! I'll tell you why, because back when I was working at The Talk, she came on and I just remember her saying something so sweet and they were in, like, this blissful honeymoon stage. And I think he gave her, like, a big stuffed animal giraffe and there was, like, a secret code name between the two of them. I was like, 'Ohhh, I like you.' And Khloe has always been my favorite Kardashian."
"She and Kris Jenner are neck and neck, I’ll be honest," she adds.
Khloe isn't the the only Kardashian who might be brought up this season, as Shanna's ex-husband, Travis Barker, is engaged to Kourtney Kardashian.
Julie jokes that "every time" a Kardashian is mentioned, "I'm going like this," as she drinks out of her cup. "Because yes, Shanna Moakler I know is not exactly thrilled that her ex-husband, Travis Barker, who she has two teenage kids with recently got engaged to Kourtney Kardashian. And I know before Shanna went into the house, who is a super fan of the game, I know she [was] like, 'Oh my god, I don’t want to go in the house and a Kardashian walks in.' So the name Kardashian was already being spoken before Shanna went in, and now that she’s living in the house with Lamar Odom, yeah, that's going to be a whole separate show."
Of course, these celebrities are only giving viewers a month of their time, and the broadcast version "is going to be about the game, the story… a little Kardashian," Julie teases. "But if you want to see more of that, you have to subscribe to the live feeds at Paramount+."
There's also two housewives in the mix, Cynthia Bailey from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Teddi Mellencamp from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
As for how the two ladies will mix, Julie says she's very "interested in seeing" their dynamic. "Is that going to bond them because they both walked that walk, or is that dynamic going to play out?" she ponders. "Is there going to be a dynamic? I think any kind of drama they had to live through being a Housewife, they can always walk away."
However, Julie has her eye on one celeb. The host says that her "money" is on Diff'rent Strokes star Todd Bridges.
"My 12-year-old son said to me, 'Who’s Todd Bridges?' I was like, 'Um, you better sit down!' and he knows the line, 'What you talking about, Willis?'" she says. "And I’m like, 'He’s Willis!'"
"My money is on Todd Bridges, not just because from my childhood, watching him and then seeing his adult life play out in the tabloids," she explains. "He's an underdog in my heart that I’m rooting for. I don't know him, I've never met him, I've never talked to him, but for nostalgia's sake, he's someone that I’m like, 'You know what? This guy is a survivor and he's been through a lot.' Big Brother might seem like nothing to him. And he's a professional gamer now, so he makes his money that way. He knows a thing or two about gaming and Big Brother is the ultimate game!"
With Big Brother on its 23rd season, the show is one of the longest-running reality shows in TV history. As for what makes Celebrity Big Brother any different?
"This is the secret, they get a couple of free flatirons and curling irons. I'll be honest, that's a perk," Julie shares with a laugh. "And they get a professional hair and makeup station, but they have to do their own. And that's it!"
"No, we really turn up the heat! 'Celebrity, hooray!' That's nice, you're used to being number one, fabulous, fabulous. [But] this is a game, there's a quarter million dollars on the line and you guys have to bring it and we're kicking at least two people off every week," she details. "Every Monday, Friday, this is the big difference. But other than those little free curling iron perks, we are not going to make it easy for them just because they're celebrities and life has been made much easier in many different ways, in certain areas of their life."
Season 3 of Celebrity Big Brother premieres Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
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